DIYEFI.org Forum

Wikipedia with several general purpose notes about PCB's and DIY assembly references.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board

After assembly and testing, here are two items that should be done for long term care. Use some form of flux off to clean the board, then conformal coating to add more corrosion protection.

The flux when hot is very reactive, and will remain reactive when at room temp. It's reactive state typically takes at least a year to notice, and it's a good idea to remove this flux to prevent long term corrosion issues. Radio shack electronics clear works OK for this (64-4345) it comes with it's own brush for cleaning. Also MG Chemicals Flux Remover PC Boards (4140-400g) is more aggressive but requires you to provide your own acid brush. Here's a link about conformal coating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformal_coating

the idea here is that you want to avoid things w/lanolin or skin conditioners .. that said, I scrub up my boards with simple green and a trimmed acid brush and rinse. A lot less work is involved when you do it immediately instead of wait a few days.

hot water helps too :-)